ER… I suspect Faith has phlebitis or thrombophlebitis at IV site from IVIG infusion this week. I called our Peds after hours line & was told to bring her in to be evaluated. We just got home from Children’s Hospital around 1 am due to the side effects post-infusion. All three infusion days were about 14 hours … each. She remains in severe pain (rated at 9 on 1-10 scale) from the post-infusion headache.
#canmommysecureabedandsleep

Hubby has been working extended hours for work project; thankfully, the pressure on that seems to be easing now.

Prayers requested that this won’t be serious and for plenty of restorative sleep for all of us this weekend. We walk on faith that God holds us in His hands & take things moment by moment.

UPDATE: It is phlebitis, but thankfully, there is no blood clot. Rash on torso non-issue. Simple tx should resolve phlebitis at IV site within a few days. We’ll follow up with Ped to re-check in a few days. When Faith left the room for a few minutes, her nurse said she wanted to tell me that she noticed how elegant she is and how poised she carries herself… even with headache pain at a 9 on a 1-10 scale, she was still engaged with the ER staff and smiling… what a positive sign God gave me that healing is underway and her true personality is shining through.
#soblessed!

Today, I am so deeply thankful for the blessing and gift that honored me with the most cherished and important role of my life: Mommy! ♥ Faith, I love you and treasure you, my precious daughter and I admire your courage and tenacity. I am so thankful and proud to be your Mom!

Faith’s Christening

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom (another blessing in my life!) and all the moms reading this! ♥

It’s certainly been a hectic couple of weeks around here! What’s new, right?

Last weekend, we celebrated our eldest’s (my stepdaughter) graduation with a Master’s degree in Biology, focus on Biomedical Sciences. She’ll be completing her Thesis this summer and anticipates defending it by August. She’s worked very hard these last couple of years and we are so very proud of her! Great job, Hope & all our Congratulations and Best Wishes!!! We love you!!

Hope’s Master’s Graduation

Hope’s Master’s Graduation Reception

Meet the adult female Lone Star Tick Faith found on herself the next day:

Female Lone Star Tick

Before my fellow PANDAS-PITAND moms (who know all too well that tick-borne diseases are known infectious triggers for PANDAS-PITAND… and very difficult to eradicate, especially if not caught early) suffer heart failure at the sight of that creepy pic… and the knowledge that testing Faith would likely be unreliable due to her immune deficiency and her ongoing IVIG infusions (ask if you want more technical info about the reasons for this; I’m assuming the non-medical folks are not as interested as me, the nurse), I’ll assure you that we continue to work with her medical team on this and she is being treated for tick-borne infections as a precaution. Still, yes, sigh… another worry… and not one I take lightly as I know far too much about the implications. Thankfully, she found it very quickly and it was barely starting to imbed. Thus, the risk is lower. However, it’s still there and given her complex medical case, we don’t take chances. We treat. Please pray any potential infections will be quickly resolved and eliminated.

This past weekend, we celebrated a nephew’s graduation from college with a degree in Business. He too, has worked very hard and we are so proud of him! Here’s a photo of most of us present at the graduation.

Graduation – Large Group

Faith has IVIG # 10 this week. We’ve been so blessed the last several years to be a part of this amazing ministry and dance group. Dance? Yes, we dance… but the focus is on mentoring children to become disciples and God is doing amazing things through it! We bumped the date of the infusion to Tuesday, instead of Monday so she would be able to participate in Worship Dance on Monday evening just before we head down for her infusion. If you’re local and want to see the recital, give me a call and I’ll fill you in on the details. Wherever you are, we appreciate your prayers for this infusion and that any side effects will be minimal as she continues to battle severe headaches and vomiting in the days following the infusions this year.

Faith continues to press forward, working very hard to complete her academic load for 7th grade. Due to being so sick the last two years, she has missed a great deal of content. Admin has determined that she must pass the state tests in order to pass 7th grade. She’s amazing in how self-motivated she is in her educational pursuits and she continues to press forward. We trust she is in God’s hands here and as in the past, will do well on these state tests. We appreciate prayer support for same… her first test is scheduled for May 23 – English. She’ll take the Math test the following week (last week of May) and the History test the first week of June. We’ve likely lost the Spanish 1 class she was taking for high school credit. We’re looking into homeschooling her next year for her, for health reasons, to ensure she has the content she needs going into high school.

As most of you are well aware, the journey to reclaim Faith’s health has often been arduous. We work to get her back to health, only to have her come down with yet another strep throat infection and we’re back to square one all over again. Those of you who know me well, are also well aware that I firmly believe that God will heal her in His time AND that He will use these trials in our lives for good in some way.

During our recent travels, I was fortunate to hear the following song… very beautiful and though provoking and reminding me once again, that God uses ALL things for good. Most of this song (especially the chorus) tells of the life we’ve led in this journey over the last several years in working to heal Faith. I hope it blesses you as it did me. Lyrics follow embedded song track.

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we have faith to believe

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It’s not our home

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

We have received approval from our secondary insurance provider (approval from the first was received yesterday) for Faith’s IVIGinfusions.

As most of you are aware, she has been having an increasingly difficult time since soon after the 3 week point post her last infusion.

The specialty pharmacy will be overnighting the medication & supplies to our home. This formulation is a little different than the one she was receiving recently. This will be the same one as what she received locally previously and she seemed to do better on this medication so we are hopeful we will see that continue.

The first half of this infusion will be on Friday and the second half will be administered on Monday.

Her doctor is monitoring her progress and her labs and will determine where we go from here… if any adjustments are needed and how long she will require treatment.

Our next step is to eradicate these strep throat infections… we’re working on that…

Thank you all for your prayers… God remains in control and is providing for her needs. ♥